Start a Revolution

Know Your Flow

2011-03-07T21:25:00Z

Club Red, May 26th, "Know Your Flow" from Charles Dolly on Vimeo.

...

New Wineskins

2011-01-13T22:29:00Z

Notes from the first Sunday of the year...straight from Dropbox...let's see if this works:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18649249/1-2-11%20NEW%20YEAR-NEW%20WINESKINS.docx

...

The Value of Adversity

2010-09-07T11:33:00Z

"Sometimes, it is good for us to experience troubles and difficulties. They can teach us a truth about ourselves: that this life is actually a time of exile, and that we cannot place our hopes in this world. In the same way, if others sometimes oppose us or think ill of us, even when our behavior and intentions have been above reproach, we can accept it as a sign that we need to prefer humility to pride. At such times, we are moved to recall that what God thinks of us is what matters, and that if we have the consolations of God, we will be less inclined to seek the approval of our fellow men.
    When a good person experiences some trouble or temptation--such as evil thoughts--he understands well that God is his best protector. Grieved by his sufferings, he prays and speaks to God about them. He may speak of his weariness and even pray for the blessing of death, so that he may be united with Christ. At such a moment, he well understands that perfect security and peace cannot be found in this life." --Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ (Book 1; xii)

This morning, as I read this, I was struck by how little of the perspective of heaven I actually have. So many times we (well...I) seek to be great in the eyes of men and yet in doing so, go against the path the Lord took. He told us that the way up is down: "He who seeks to be great must become servant of all."

Lord, deliver us from ourselves! Free us from our self-seeking hearts and replace our prideful wicked ways with the garment which you wore...the cloak of humility May we be truly be like you.

Family

2010-08-24T04:38:00Z

“True spiritual authority does not start with organization; it starts with family. When the church ceases to be a family she loses her true spiritual authority. The greatest authority for accomplishing true spiritual advances will always come from relationship—with the Lord first, and then with His people. The Lord will always give the greatest authority to His closest friends. All time spent seeking intimacy with the Lord will pay great dividends. Time spent developing spiritual friendships will also pay much higher dividends than time spent developing either theology or strategy.” –Rick Joyner

This quote from the introduction to Rick Joyner’s book Visions of the Harvest, makes me think back about 10 days when I was hanging out with some of my true brothers in the faith: Brad Cooper, Andrew Armstrong, Justin Perdue, Craig Caudill, Zach Cooper, Tyler Tatum, Riley Cummings, Lawrence Frost, along with Big Tom and Bill Perdue and a few other guys who I didn’t know as well ‘til then.

The reason for all of us getting together was because we, along with a few other guys who couldn’t make it, are all honored to be members of Brad Cooper’s inner circle (our boy is getting married in about a month)…and we had a Bachelor Weekend set aside just to hang with BCoop at the lake. Most of these guys I’ve known for the majority of my life…so you can imagine the stories we’ve got to tell...especially about Coop (www.bradcooper.us).

And though there was more theology discussed than I would have predicted, especially by our most recently turned-zealous scholar Dr. Perdue J, the majority of our time was spent just hanging out…and man it was a blast: telling stories, eating LOTS of meat and beans, riding the boat and watching each other ‘eat it’ on the tube, trying to get the jetski going (and I emphasize trying), laughing about crazy memories from the past, talking about what’s going on right now, and dreaming about what might be one day.

But with all of the dreams, there was not a single strategy meeting. Not one. All of these emerging leaders in the Kingdom…together for such a time as this…and nothing productive!

Yet, these brothers…even one whom I had never met until then, Christopher Haymes (I think that’s how you spell it)…I feel like these guys would fight Hell for me whenever I needed it.

And…you know…I think we just might need each other in that regard one day.

There are many things that I wonder about concerning the providence of God, but there is one thing that I KNOW is for sure: God planned this whole thing out a long time ago. J And HE knew that 2 boys name Brad and Brandon would need to grow up together, play ball together, lead FCA together, go to college together, and now be youth pastors at 2 mega-churches (Newspring & Redemption) during the same season of their lives. And God knew that all those connected to us would through us be connected to each other…and the Kingdom “fishnet” would get bigger and stronger with each moment of renewed covenant.

Family. I think that’s a good word for us in this season. I have heard the Kingdom described as an army with order and discipline and rank and all that…and I think it’s all true. Heck, I’m the one with Revolution plastered everywhere you look! But I think I remembered something the past few weeks that’s really important to remember: Family first! If you’re family…you’ll fight for one another…guaranteed.

So, ACTION PLAN: who’s in your spiritual family? Do you have any friends that stick closer than a brother? What could you do to help solidify those ever-important relationships?

As one of the guys put it that weekend…there was some serious “bro-mance” going on at the lake. 2 guys would hop on the tube together and work as a team to stay afloat, 2 guys would tag-team the grilling action, 2 guys would snag some time away to try to complete a task or serve the others in some way. And, as funny as that is to say, I think we all need a little more ‘bro-mance’ in our lives…some good time with family…some David & Jonathan—‘exchanging clothes, hugging and weeping like real men’ moments.

I’m looking forward to getting together with my Redemption family tomorrow during my staff meetings. I think it’s good for me to remember that no matter what titles we may have, when it all comes down to it…we are all God’s kids…we’re all FAMILY.

Much Love Fam,
~BB

P.S. May we always remember that people are more important than progress…because building and loving people IS progress…at least, it’s the only progress that’ll last.

The Elephant Story

2010-08-03T22:21:00Z

The Elephant Story.

Several years ago, in an African Nature Reserve, the elephant population was getting out of hand. Without thinking about the affects of their decision, the people who were running the reserve decided to keep all of the young elephants, and sold off the older ones.

At first, the effects were barely noticeable. The group of young elephants formed their own mini-herd and grew up through their childhood years at a normal pace. However, when the elephants began entering into their adolescent years, they started exhibiting some very strange behaviors.

You see, elephants develop more slowly than humans and reach “adolescence” when they are in their 20s. As with human adolescence, the elephants’ bodies go through significant changes and their hormones are at crazy levels. During this time, elephants go into a period called “musking.” This is where the elephants, particularly the males, test their strength against one another, and exhibit more violent behavior than usual. A typical show of musking is when a developing male will rub his tusks against trees and stamp around in the dust.

But with our orphaned elephants, their period of musking revealed the real effects of their parental abandonment. They started musking like normal, but then it didn’t stop. Instead of the the typical 6 months or so, this phase of musking continued on for years. Their behavior became increasingly more violent as time went on, the herd developed a distinct pecking order based on physical domination, and the reserve workers even began to describe the herd as a “gang.” The violence progressed to the point where the gang leader “Goliath” even speared a rhino, and eventually had to be put to sleep.

It was like they didn’t know what to do…like they didn’t know how to act like elephants. The reserve workers were at their wits’ end as to what to do. Finally, they decided to bring in some old elephants to see if that would work.

The results were incredible.

The old elephants, who were still much larger than the musking adolescents, did not try to put down their threats by force. When challenged, they just looked at them like “what are you doing? That’s not the way an elephant acts! We elephants don’t use our amazing strength to dominate each other and pick on the weak and frail. We use our strength to protect the herd! We protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

After a few weeks, the herd had become a herd again. The young elephants simply followed the model provided by the older elephants and found their place within the now peaceful elephant community.

How many of our prisons, I wonder, are full of still-musking adolescents who never had a positive father figure in their lives? We marvel at how violent and lost this upcoming generation seems to be, and yet we many times do not compute that they are the most fatherless generation to ever be on the planet. Divorce and dead-beat dads are the norm instead of the exception. Abuse is typical. Neglect is normal. A loving husband and father is about as common these days as a needle in a haystack.

James 1:27 says that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

What is your religion? How good of a job is your church doing at looking after the orphans and the widows? The fatherless are crying out. Adoption is the answer. The question is, will we hear their cries? Will we answer the call?

Morning Whispers: "Remain MY Child"

2010-05-11T16:40:00Z

Have you ever woken up in the morning with a thought on your mind that you know is a little too deep and perfect to have come from you? Like a good song or piece of poetry, there are some words or sounds that have a different quality to them, a Spirit-quality. In His word, God describes his voice as "still" and "small." In cultivating my own personal 'ears to hear' what the Spirit is saying, I have discovered that these waking thoughts or "morning whispers" are many times the voice of the Lord...especially if I went to bed praying, reading, or meditating on scripture.

So what was God saying this morning? I thought you'd never ask!   I was listening to Misty Edwards sing Baptize My Heart and just felt really stirred by the lyrics, especially this "the only safe place is in the center of the flame." Then I "tapped in" and heard Abba whisper this to my soul:

“REMAIN MY CHILD"
    —there you cannot be baited.

Remain in MY ARMS.

Lift your eyes!
    Why so downcast? Put your hope in ME!!

Here you are not affected by the wind and the waves.

What's crazy is that I came in to work today and saw that my assistant, Ashley Hayes, was listening to her iPOD. I asked her what she was moving to this morning. She replied, "a little bit of Misty." "Really," I said, "what song?" "Baptize My Heart."

I guess God had us in the same river this morning.  What river does he have YOU in today? What is He whispering to you?

We've Been Working On This

2010-05-06T14:14:00Z

...

PSP: Peter's Simple Progression

2010-03-18T04:05:00Z

Hey Guys, this is my first attempt at a video devotional. Let me know what you think...whether it's too long or short, of if my bed head is ridiculous. I'm thinking that I might be willing to keep these things coming if enough people are getting something out of it. So leave me some feedback...PLEASE!!!

P.S. I know there's a little lag on the audio...let me know if anybody knows how to fix that...I'm uploading it from an iMAC to youtube. Somewhere it's getting slow but I'm not sure where.

THIS IS IT

2010-03-03T16:07:59Z

I watched Michael Jackson's "THIS IS IT" the other day and was totally taken by surprise! I honestly don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn't expecting to come away from the movie CHANGED FOREVER.  Here are my BIG, paradigm-shifting TAKE-AWAYS:

#1 My opinion of the man Michael Jackson is forever changed. I know that the whole goal of this movie was to present Michael at his best, to show the world the man behind the music...but no amount of Reality TV-type editing could change a monster or sicko into the person that I saw interacting with other real people in this behind-the-scenes footage.

#2 The movie forced me re-think the source of Michael's inspiration.  Michael Jackson was a creative genius...that is a fact that no one would doubt.  But the way he described his music, it was as if he was not the writer. It was as if there was a spiritual author behind his genius. He would use phrases like "It's supposed to be like this" and "you've got to let it simmer." Related to this, he must have said "God bless you" 20 times during the movie...and it didn't seem like he was just saying it. He really seemed to be blessing people.

#3 I saw in Michael Jackson  the perfect example of a loving perfectionist. He would interrupt the flow of rehearsal whenever what he was experiencing with his external ears wasn't matching the creative melodies and moves which were flowing in him internally. But THE WAY he spoke to his team members was remarkable. He was exceedingly gentle, yet he would get right to the point with what was wrong....and then he would end up his gentle coaching each time saying "with love, with love...l-o-v-e...love!"

#4 I think his child-like-ness was both intentional and wise. Some of his close colleagues spoke about his innocence, remarking that "there is is a difference between being innocent and being naive." They said that he was definitely not naive, but that his quality of innocence (even at age 50) is what made him so magical. We all know that Michael loved to keep the company of children, saying that their innocence and creativity inspired him to remain playful and creative. He even created a place to live which stretched the limits of anyone's imagination, a place where elephants walked by windows, where roller-coasters were in the front yard, where snakes and tigers were regular house pets...the limitless imaginations of a child was the essence of Neverland.

#5 My last big take-away from the movie didn't actually come from Michael himself, but from the people who surrounded him. There was such a sense of HONOR that permeated every room Michael came into. When Michael entered, dancers and technicians would whisper to each other "the man is here" as they nervously prepared themselves to interact with the Michael Jackson. When he was singing back and forth during rehearsal, there were scores of dancers and other team members at the foot of the stage going absolutely crazy! And what did he do? He performed in their praise! Most notably, however, was how Kenny Ortega (a father figure, director of production, and close friend of Michael) treated him. At every point, he was carefullly creating and maintaining an atmosphere where Michael's creative genius would not be stifled and where he was always taken care of. At one point during a black-out, he came over the sound system saying "make sure somebody is there for Michael with a flashlight!" It was all about the details, all about honoring Michael, all about love.

I was driving into town the next day, praying in the cab of my truck, when God spoke to me something that I will never forget. He said, "If my people would treat my Holy Spirit like the people around Michael treated him, then they would see ME perform!"

Let me know how this hit you...I know it cut me to the quick. I'm gonna do my best not to grieve Him (the Holy Spirit) today.

With Love (L-O-V-E...love),
~BB :+)

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."--Philippians 4:5

sick day

2010-02-08T20:07:00Z

Today, I took a "sick day" for the first time in a LONG time! I thought maybe this would be a good cause to open up a conversation about:
WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE ABOUT SICKNESS AND HEALING...

I've been wondering a lot lately about illnesses, health issues, healing, and everything in between. There have been several (what would appear to be "conflicting") thoughts running through my head these days.

On one hand, we see evidences that sicknesses do exist.

My mother-in-law (see last blog post) has Pulmonary Hypertension.
Wally Smith (father of Josh Smith who is one of my staff members) died of cancer 2 weeks ago.
I've got some swollen glands today...

On the other hand, I believe in healing. I mean, I don't just have theological persuasion that lends me to believe in the doctrine of healing...I really believe that God heals.

My mom was healed miraculously when I was in 8th grade (God took all of her pain away 10 days after a horrific car accident).
I go to a Pentecostal church where people get healed all the time.
I read the gospels and the book of Acts all the time & people were getting healed like crazy!; I listen to teachings by Apostle Ron Carpenter and Andrew Wommack which consistently feed my faith; and I'm reading a book of selected sermons by Smith Wigglesworth right now...to ever increase my faith to believe for healing!

But what's the catch? How come some people get healed and some people don't? How come some prayers get answered and some don't? How come some scriptures make it seem like healing is a locked case "any thing you ask, believing, you shall receive"; and other scriptures make these scriptures seem confusing: "I asked 3 times that it be taken away...and the Lord said "my grace is sufficient for you"; "take a little wine for your stomach"; "it's appointed unto man once to die."

I know I'm opening up a big can of worms here...but I think this is a safe place to have a conversation. What do you believe? What have you experienced? What is the Lord teaching you these days concerning healing? Let's talk.

A Memorable Monday

2009-11-17T03:13:00Z

Today was an exceptional day. I just got done talking with my mother-in-law, Cris Malseed, before she turned in for the night. Cris is a champion. She has been battling pulmonary hypertension for 3 1/2 years now, has been #1 on the transplant list for over 6 months, and was as sassy tonight as her granddaughter Ella was! I definitely know where all my girls get it!!

Talking with her just makes you think about life...because every day of hers is so precious. Each hour she defies the odds. Every day she inspires hope. I remember in high school preaching a sermon where I challenged everyone to "live each day as if it were your last." For Cris, this is reality. I'm sure she still has her regrets every now and then with how she spends the moments and little bit of energy that she does have, but to live life with a sense of urgency...it just makes everyone around her want to ensure that each one of those moments is a full one. She said tonight that she's absolutely certain that the only reason she is still here is for her granddaughters. I don't know if I would say that's the only reason (who knows what God's purposes may be in allowing all this?) but I do know it does my heart good to watch those two precious little girls fill their grammy's love tank to overflowing.

Well, there it is...deep thoughts on a Monday night. And before I forget, if you want to see Sunday's sermon notes, HERE they are. I didn't do the devotional questions this time...I lost my help this past Sunday (missed ya'll!). But perhaps those of you who access this can come up with some applications of your own. I'd love to know how you're processing life these days. Leave a comment if you have time. Much Love~BB

Downloadable Devotions

2009-11-09T02:47:00Z

So, this past Tuesday I was in several meetings with Apostle Ron and he was about as passionate as any person could be about people really "getting it" when it comes to understanding the Kingdom. He challenged his creative team to help him think of ways to help break down some of the MEAT of the Jesus' radical Kingdom message so that the average Joe who loves Jesus could really get a grasp on what it means to live the Kingdom life. The way he put it, his goal is for everybody to be able to have an intelligent conversation with a friend about the difference between "church" and Kingdom.

Well, if you were at RWOC this past Sunday, you got a glimpse of the creative team's efforts...including Pastor Stephen interspersing Kingdom nuggets throughout praise and worship, Pastor Jerry reading a "decree from the King," as well as the video "REWIND" kickoff to the sermon coupled with the the eye-opening collection of fiber commercials! (Wow...still a little shocked at how far society has spiraled down morally in 40 years!)

Another effort that we're going to make is to supply everyone with DOWNLOADABLE DEVOTIONS which basically consist of sermon notes with some reflection questions to help us 'break down' throughout the week all the meat that Apostle is giving to us on a given Sunday.

If you've been reading any of my latest blogs, you've noticed that I've started posting some of my sermon notes here already. So, this is my first attempt (along with the help of Kolin, Paige and Sara Beth--you guys rock!!) at adding some discussion questions to those notes so that perhaps some folks can download and use as devotions for the week.

I would love to hear some feedback from any of you that participate. I don't know if we're going to post this on the Redemption website or not, but this is a great place to experiment for now. Any ideas for what we should call this, suggestions, or comments would be GREATLY appreciated!!

So, without further ado... to get your Downloadable Devotion (or whatever we end up calling it), just CLICK HERE and ENJOY!!! ~BB

the world needs a good yeast infection!!

2009-09-20T20:43:00Z

This morning's sermon taught me more about YEAST than I ever thought was possible...we are studying Jesus' parables of the Kingdom on Sundays at RWOC and today's focus was from Matthew 13:33 ³³He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount^[b^] of flour until it worked all through the dough."

One thing Apostle Ron pointed out, which I think we may all need to change our mindsets about, is our concept of WITNESSING.

“We’ve been taught that being an influence in our environment is witnessing, and witnessing is always telling people about Jesus. But come on, this is 2009…I ain’t reading your tract! Don’t stop me on the sidewalk with a bullhorn. In fact, don’t talk to me at all. A witness is not somebody who can tell something…it’s somebody who has seen something. The Bible says we are SALT and LIGHT and a light don’t have lips.

They are switching off your light because you have not earned the right to talk. I’m not telling you not to talk, I’m telling you to know when to speak.

When you talk all the time…your words have no power.”

I don’t know about you, but I want my words to have POWER! I want to have earned the right to speak with my audience so that when I do open my mouth, my words (especially if those words are about Jesus) don’t fall on deaf ears.

As I was looking over my notes from today’s sermon, I was able to pick out the following as a checklist for “earning the right to be heard.” My prayer is that as you read these, it will challenge you to ‘tap in’ to the Kingdom that is inside of you so that you can be YEAST in whatever dough God has placed you in.

Earning the Right to Speak in your Environment:

· Do you have an excellent spirit? Is everything you touch associated with excellence?

· Do you have a great work ethic? Are you 100% in whatever you’re doing?

· Are you able to tackle the problem without talking about the problem?

· Can you do a hard job and make it looks easy? And not brag or complain about it?

· Do you know when to keep your mouth shut?

· Do you knows when to hold your peace?

· Can you have a good attitude when everybody else has a bad one?

· When others’ priorities are all messed up, can they see that you’ve got yours intact? Especially in tough times?

· When you get bad news, is there a difference in how you respond?

So how’d you do? I know I’ve got some work to do…still could get a whole lot more yeasty!! Is that even a word? J

If you want the rest of today’s sermon notes, just click HERE and they’re all yours. Much Love, BB

I'm Out of Both of My Minds

2009-09-13T20:20:00Z

This morning's sermon at Redemption World Outreach Center was pretty awesome to say the least. Apostle Ron freakin' brought it!! Among many other remarkable revelations, he connected Mark 12:30 (the greatest commandment) with Ephesians 3:20 in a way that I've never seen before.

Mark 12:30 says: "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."

Apostle Ron asked the question, "Why does the Bible say to love God with all of your mind twice?" After all, the soul is made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions. So Jesus is saying here, "love Yahweh, your God, with all your heart, with all your (mind, will, and emotions), with all your mind, and with all your strength. Seems kind of redundant unless there are 2 different ideas for “mind” here.

According to AR, one of your "minds" has to do with what you KNOW.  Your other "mind" has to do with what you can IMAGINE.

What does it look like to love the Lord your God with all of your IMAGINATION?  The imagination is the place where nothing is impossible, where creativity abounds.

When you dream crazy, what do you see? My first thought was "every orphan has a father." That's what keeps me up at night...the fatherlessness of this generation, both natural and spiritual. What would life be like if all the fathers out there got mobilized in an adoption movement, and there simply were no more orphans? Crazy, I know...

What do you dream about?

Then you throw in Ephesians 3:20, which says God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

Dang...that means that whatever crazy thing we just dreamed up is totally possible!!

God is saying: “Love me out of what you’ve hoped I could do, not out of what you’ve seen me do.

Come on…challenge me! Everything’s in me. Pull on me! Pull on me to do something that you can only imagine!”

If you're hungry for some more serious revelation, click here to get the full monty version of my sermon notes. Apostle Ron is ridiculous!!

Managing Transitions

2009-01-20T15:30:00Z

"When properly managed, a leadership transition provides a pivotal moment, enabling an organization to change direction, maintain momentum, and strengthen its capacity." --transitionguide.com

Today is an historical day in the timeline of our nation. Whether or not the man you voted for in November is the one taking the Oath of Office, I think most would agree that there is a buzz in the air surrounding our nation's capital. This transition brings with it an expectation of change and a newfound hope that glimmers in the eyes of many.

It also marks a day of transition in Revolution Youth Ministry (actually this last year can be categorized as a year of transition, huh?). We have an opportunity to bring in "fresh legs" as we used to say on the soccer field, and new ideas, personalities, gifts, and talents into our leadership family. We are getting poised to be a part of something special, something that's never been done in our church, our community, or our city before. It's definitely an exciting time to be a part of it all!

Here are three thoughts to keep in mind during times of transition:

A transition from what was to what's going to be takes time. It's easy to hope for a quick fix, but that rarely happens. President Obama is not going to 'fix' our nation in one day, or even after a year of holding the reins at the Oval Office. Proper foundations must be laid to provide stability and sustainability.

Relationships become even more important. Times of transitions test already existing relationships. They also provide opportunities for new relationships to form. As we invite new volunteers and staff members into our existing family, we can smooth out that transition by fostering a culture of love, acceptance, patience and excitement with each other that will also make them feel welcome and wanted.

It's important to know what's expected of you. We are working to provide clearly defined expectations for both staff members and volunteers that are easily measurable so that everyone knows where they stand, how well they are doing, and what areas need improvement.

We are thankful for what has been and excited about what is coming. Please stand with us in prayer as we transition from one to the other. Thank you again for selflessly pouring out your lives for this generation!

"C'ing" Our Way To Better Leadership

2009-01-12T22:44:00Z

Hey Revolutionaries!

Welcome to my blog. This post is by my beautiful wife, Nicole. Enjoy.

The Leadership Lowdown for today comes from a book that Pastor Brandon and I have been reading that was given to us by one of the students for Christmas. It's called Teamwork Makes the Dream Work by John C. Maxwell.

How to 'C' Your Way Into Better Teamwork

It takes a team to achieve a dream. But what does it take to create a team?

Commitment that inspires results
Contributions that make a difference
Compentency that raises the standard
Communication that increases effectiveness
Cooperation that creates harmony
Chemistry that enhances personal connection
Creativity that enlarges a team's potential
Conflict management that reduces tension rapidly
Cohesiveness that allows change to be rapid

I was thinking about this in light of the volunteer blitz that Apostle Ron covered in yesterday’s services. In the next few weeks we have a wonderful opportunity to build our team. In fact, over the next year, I expect that we will be welcoming many new volunteer leaders into the Revolution family. If we focus on getting better at these things, we can help to ensure that our team is poised to do what we’re called to do.

So, that being said, here are a few questions to chew on...

What are some of the above areas where we as the Revolution Leadership are strong?
What are some areas that we need to improve upon?
Finally, what is the #1 area that you personally can improve upon?

ADOPTION...I believe this word is going to define my life.

2008-10-27T05:28:00Z

After Apostle Ron's sermon this morning, my heart has been burning to do some research on my own about the fatherlessness that so characterizes this upcoming generation. I've been busy studying fathers, sons, orphans, adoption, the millenial generation, and anything related that I can find.

In the process, I found an amazing sermon by John Piper about Adoption: (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/1991/Audio/)

This sermon, along with the various other blogs and sites that I visited tonight surrounding the topic have only helped to remind me how the subject of ADOPTION continues to surface as a recurring theme in my life.

1. My Childhood: Growing up in Hendersonville, NC did not mean that I was adopted (although my brother tried to convince me of this on more than one occasion), but it did mean that I would end up being intimately associated with the Easler family. 2 of my best friends were the Easler twins, Abbie and Katie, who are older sisters to more than 12 adopted brothers and sisters!! Let's see how good my memory is: Jared, David, Julia, Mac (diseased), Tory, Eilish, Konstantin, Sergey, Jimmy (diseased), Bethany, Ben, Aden... and I know they've adopted at least two more since I went off to college!! I basically functioned as an older brother figure to all of kids, as I was over at the Easler farm constantly.

2. Marrying Nicole: As I began to date my wife and move towards marriage, a common topic of conversation was our expectations for children. Even in the beginning, Nicole and I dreamed together of having children of our own in addition to adopting. And since Nicole had been to both Kenya and Sri Lanka, we always said we would get a boy from Kenya and a girl from Sri Lanka (although Sri Lanka is presently closed to foreign adoptions).

3. Working in Outreach: Doing consistent ministry in inner-city Los Angeles for the first year of our marriage, Nicole and I came face to face with the plague of fatherlessness. Hebrew culture defines an orphan as one who does not have a father, and time and time again, it says in scripture that God will be a father to the fatherless. Having the same Spirit in us, which according to Galatians 4 is the spirit of adoption causing us to cry "Abba, Father,"  we did not find it difficult to fall in love with one particular set of orphans: Courtney, Joequeesha, Janet, Janice, Rodzay, Joneill, and Michelle. The 2 boys and 5 girls have 4 different biological fathers, none of whom play any significant role in any of their lives. However, we felt called and were fortunate during our year in L.A. to spend significant time with these precious ones. And Outreach in Greenville was no different: immediately being assigned to Boulder Creek or City Heights, one of the worst hoods in G-vegas, we jumped right in and sensed once again the call to spread as much love as we could to the throngs of fatherless children hanging out in the streets.

4. Becoming a Father: I cannot think of a more compelling reason to want every child to have a father, than to experience in my every day the joy of being a father. I beam with pride every time Ella utters her first and favorite word..."Dada." I well with emotion when I sing her to sleep, or see her run from my chase, or laugh with my tickles. I know the difference that I make in her life. I know that with every touch, with every "I love you" I am building up her subconscious and reassuring her of the unconditional love of her father. I am defeating insecurity with every moment that we spend together, and with every solid catch after I toss her in the air. There is no profession I can fathom on earth more honorable than "Father."  And now, with our precious Ella being 14 months old and baby berry #2 in the oven (Nicole is just entering 2nd trimester ), perhaps the reality of adoption is not as far off as it once was...

5. Becoming Youth Pastor at Redemption: When Apostle Ron tagged me as the new youth pastor back in February, the new challenge forced me to take a hard look at not only the vision of the house (the "Z"), but to also properly recognize the situation that this present generation finds themselves in (the "A"). In doing so, the pervasive fatherlessness kept surfacing at every turn. Therefore, after much prayer, I believe the strategy of Heaven for getting from "A" to "Z" has become crystallized in our mission statement:

The mission statement of Revolution Student Ministries is...
"Adopting an Awakened Army of Kingdom Revolutionaries"

...and the progression of the vision is 3-fold: AWAKE, ADOPT, ARISE.

And now, as I am about to delve into budgeting for the ministry for 2009, I know that I will be forced to make some tough decisions based on priorities that God has given me. I am praying for wisdom, that I may be like the sons of Issachar numbered among David's mighty men..."able to discern the times and the seasons." I am sensing that God's recurring emphasis on ADOPTION in my life is no coincidence.

More to come...     What do you think??? How has adoption affected your life?

It Begins!

2008-10-05T07:49:00Z

So...i think I'm up and running now. We'll see how this goes.

Welcome

2008-10-04T02:25:30Z

Welcome to my blog. Please check back soon for new entries.